![]() ![]() There was a nice window for the yak this morning, I got out to my spot before 7:00am and a large kahawai jumped right out of the water in front of me, it was a nice welcome, there were no boil ups or birds to be seen, but they soon woke up and it was on, I wasn't able to keep up, they covered quite a few miles going from Kennedy Park to Mairangi, my fitness was near shot by the time I got to my spot, still it was good to see some life. I had the few fish I wanted by 7:30am but stayed out and caught and released a dozen more. |
![]() Why catch and release fish? I had a free morning where I could go fishing, I like soft baiting with 6kg line, it's fun and I find it a challenge. I caught all of my fish today in 10-12m with Zman curly tails, with a 3/8 weight and a number 3 hook, the fish all swam away, many were flicked off at the side of the yak, some held upside down with a wet rag to have the hook removed. Catching and releasing fish in deep water is dangerous to the fish: barotrauma kills, as can swallowing baited hooks, but soft baiting in up to 12m is comparatively gentle on the fish, all of the fish I released swam away strongly, none with injuries that I could see, for those that like sport fishing soft baiting appears to be a clean form of it, I'm open to any evidence to the contrary. In regard to my fishing ethics, I'm happy to just go with what is legal, however the snapper are about to spawn so I just take a few a week at this time...but do commercial fishermen or the customers at supermarkets or restaurants consider this? Dunno. |
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